Related Content

Obama Speaks Out on Health-Law Rollout

10/21/2013 1:06PM

President Barack Obama delivered a statement on the health law Monday, presenting people who he says have been helped by it and arguing that the law's overall performance shouldn't be measured by its website's early problems. Jerry Seib discusses. Photo: AP.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... two small ... people getting stock during application process ... and I think is fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that time ... because precisely because the product is good ... I want the cash registers to work ... I wanted to the checkout lines to be smooth ... saw lot of people deal to get this great product ... and there's no excuse for the problems ... present Obama speaking out this morning to address the technical glitches with his health care law's rollout is Monday October twenty First welcome to lunch break ... I'm Wendy downs joining me now is Wall Street Journal ... Washington Bureau Chief Jerry side Gerri ... out for the bombing just now wrapping up his remarks what he hoped to achieve what deviate even speaking there ... and was ... contrite enough do you think ... well there's two things you try to achieve the first one it was the one to acknowledge ... I'm not happy that the computer rollout of the insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act is going so badly ... to acknowledge it to say I see it I get were not in denial ... in regard to fix it that was the first thing the second thing though and from the White House party view this is the report was to say what you get through the computers through ups what you find when you get to the exchanges is that there's a good menu of insurance options that are coming in ... at reasonable prices and the economy people's needs and so I think it's important from the White House party view that the focus not be entirely on the computer mess up ... although after acknowledge that but the fifty people the focus on what's there when you break through the wall ... and the in in the white SU least you'll find that this is a ... good experience in terms of what you can get in the price even have to pay for it ... because it missed ration least argues that the insurance companies have stepped up and offered a big range of plants here that are actually going to be ... make people happy once they get to that ... interior is a very interesting point and that is his too big of a deal being made right now ... about the neglect is a beast and expected me know if you're member went ... on the Medicare drug plan rolled out under George W Bush and two thousand roughly two thousandsix ... that there were a lot of glitches with that in the headlines are all about the problems there just isn't this ... just something to be expected ... well no this guy thing goes beyond what you can expect a good glitches and in a row latter had a normal this was that kind of more of more epic proportions than that I mean ... literally people couldn't be on for days and days now ... that the White House thinks an insurance companies can agree that the better of the last few days ... most notably some of the state-run exchanges work pretty well aam but they I don't think I the the the the attention is necessarily excessive I think what the White House is saying is ... that while that may be legitimate what it's done is is is distracted attention from the more important thing in the long run which is whether when people get their fill fine if they have insurance options they didn't have before and at prices that they can comprehend and and and can actually pay ... and they think the answer the question is yes they gotta get people to that point though ... I'm to use the metaphor QQQ the stories you can keep the cash register ... you can make the purchase it doesn't matter how good the merchandise is if you can't make the purchase is to share in terms of fixing these glitches so that people can can get on and and and and serve experience what their offerings are ... you know what it what is the administration doing in terms of rolling out all the stops at your people joking only half joking I think while they just handed over to Gruebel et Global fixating but added that some underscores the frustration here ... well that's a good question as to when Frank they were having a hard time getting the answer to their talking about ... a can of a tech surge ... but we don't know exactly what that means what we do know from sends them reporting stories we headed over the weekend is that the mistresses going back ... to the main contractors were suppose to set up the site said ... we need your first team we need in here now and we didn't hear under fifty percent of their time ... and that's that and I think that's the main line of attack which is to take the contractors were suppose to drop the sites ... and get them to to serve doubled am now on fixing it with some help from some outside technical experts the government's gonna higher but ... that's a little bit of a black box right now and and and journalists equipped with a frustrating things what does it mean that there's a tech search under way we don't really know how right we will continue to come to that in Washington has this gets sorted out and we can find more analysis about Obama speaks on the beest icon out Jerry thanks as always ... sure happy to see